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Mississippi-based and California-bred, Daniels pulls from another realm entirely on his second studio album, “Downloads from the Universe,” out July 31, 2020. An ethereal blend of rock, funk, blues and world influences, Daniels’ latest musical venture represents a next step in his evolution as a songwriter, a theme present in the album title itself.

“In my earlier days, I would wait for the muse to arrive and accommodate her as best I could,” he says. “These past few years, I have been getting up early and spending time on the porch in front of my studio. No agenda, but quietly sitting. And this is when the majority of these songs came to me.”

To fully construct the sound as he envisioned it, Daniels and band (drummer Murph Caicedo, bassist Rob Wicks, keyboard player Chris Nash) partnered with engineer Kent Bruce at legendary Malaco Studios in Jackson, Mississippi, to record the album to tape. He also invited an eclectic blend of musicians, including Michael Laskin on B3, vocalist Jennifer Gibbons, harmonica player Scott Albert Johnson and saxophonist Steve Stevens.

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While “Downloads” bears his name on the cover, Daniels says he views the songs that it contains as a sum of every player involved. “Everyone was engaged from start to finish on the recording, as well as all the work leading up to it,” he says. “We got out of it what we put into it, and everyone dedicated themselves to doing their best.”

To anyone who knows him, that sense of unity is at the core of who Daniels is – and it’s certainly at the core of “Downloads.” The album flows in one assured direction, delivering an uplifting rumination on humanity and the journey that binds us together.

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From beginning to end, it sets out to connect people through a shared experience, through something positive, through music. As Daniels himself puts it: “Trying to lift the collective vibrations.”